Paris judge convicts 14 over Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher terror attacks

A Paris judge has convicted 14 people in relation to the twin terrorist attacks against the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in the French capital in January 2015, after one of the country’s biggest ever trials.

After two brothers killed nine staff at the satirical magazine’s office, a maintenance worker, and two police officers, before escaping. The next day, during a nationwide manhunt, Islamic State supporter Amédy Coulibaly, 32, shot a trainee police officer.

Within hours, Coulibaly had stormed the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket, killing four French Jews before taking staff and shoppers hostage. All three terrorists were killed in shootouts with police.

Prosecutors said the brothers and Coulibaly were “part of a single and same synchronised team” who had used “untraceable” weapons and prepared diligently for their attacks, Coulibaly relying on “a circle of trusted individuals”, including “linchpin” Ali Riza Polat, who he described as a “longstanding friend”.

The attacks triggered an outpouring of international support, with world leaders declaring ‘Je Suis Charlie’ and ‘Je Suis Juif’ in solidarity.